BOUGHT BY CRUELEST ALPHA
Fragments of Lily, scattering like ash.
Then—light. Not gentle. A conflagration. The Child. Aged, diminished, their starlight form blazing with desperate incandescence. They throw themselves between the thorn and the root. Not to fight. To burn. Their essence, hard-won, painfully condensed, ignites. A shield of pure, sacrificial fire. The Gardener shrieks, thorn recoiling from the searing brilliance. The Child’s light dims rapidly, visibly shrinking, aging centuries in seconds. "Hold…" their voice is a rasping ember in my mind. "Hold the anchor…"
Bab Populer